Gates says his kids won't inherit billions

NEW DELHI: Microsoft Corp Chairman Bill Gates, the world's wealthiest man, said on Tuesday a sizeable portion of his legendary wealth would go to charity and not his three children. "I don't think it's constructive to grow up having billions of dollars," Gates said of his children at a news conference while on a four-day trip to India.

"The idea that I will take a sizeable portion of my fortune and have them inherit that, I don't think that would be to society's benefit or to their benefit," he said. "I've spoken out about this before...my philosophy of giving back my wealth to society." But Gates added: "Certainly I'll make sure they are taken care of in a sense that they can live a very comfortable life."

The 47-year-old's wife, Melinda, gave birth to their third child in September. The other two are aged six and three. Gates, whose fortune is estimated at $43 billion by Forbes magazine, announced a $400 million investment in India to boost education, business partnerships and software development.

A Harvard drop-out, Gates built his vast fortune from the Microsoft technology empire he started from scratch. Microsoft is the world's largest software firm. On Monday, Gates said he would give $100 million to battle the spread of HIV/AIDS in India, which has the world's second largest number of cases of the deadly disease.

The donation -- the largest single-country grant by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation -- is aimed at protecting truck drivers, migrant workers and other vulnerable groups from the disease.

© Reuters